Methods of Change
Which brings us to the methods by which change can be effected. The first (and least radical) is rarely seen of late. Evolution is, and pretty much has been, a dead issue since the closings of the theatrical cartoon studios during the 1950s. Barely a studio exists today that has handled a stable of characters long enough to change them through evolution. The last major example I can recall may well be Chuck Jones' pucker-faced, cutie-eyed distortions of the classic Warner characters, including his own. (As much as I revere Jones, these designs represented an evolutionary dead end.) Perhaps if Nick Animation Studios holds on to CatDog or the Angry Beavers long enough, we could see evolution work its wonders again.

Goof Troop. © 1991 The Walt Disney Company.

Re-interpretation is far more exciting, but can be prone to mis-steps. Some attempts, such as Popeye and Son and Droopy, Master Detective have played poorly. Other re-interpretations have simply been misguided, as when the Pink Panther was given a voice (that of Matt Frewer) in his 1993 animated series. There have been others, however, that were passable and even pleasant. The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries managed to transfuse an old formula with a few fresh chuckles, and DuckTales actually plays better than MouseWorks. Come to think of it, The Goof Troop wasn't half bad either. Cinar did a charming job in presenting Little Lulu as a stand-up comic, and Sherri Stoner got some new laughs out of Casper, a terminally bland character in his original turn. O, that we could have seen where John Kricfalusi might have taken Beany and Cecil had that ill-fated ride with DIC continued; the few episodes actually produced were priceless.

The best case scenario occurs when reinterpretation is combined with revision, and the more radical the revision, the better. Can anyone think of a better example than Ralph Bakshi's Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures? Working with a prodigious line-up of talent including John Sparey, Tom Minton, Eddie Fitzgerald, and the nucleus of what would become Spumco - Bob Jacques and John Kricfalusi - Bakshi completely reworked every previous conception of Mighty Mouse's existence and then redesigned him in a rave new style of which Connie Rasinski and Jim Tyer would never have dreamed. The result? This cartoon represented one of the best and most sophisticated efforts of the late 1980s. Nothing quite like it was attempted again...until now.

Michael Ouweleen. Courtesy of Cartoon Network.

The "Shorties"
Michael Ouweleen, the Creative Director at Cartoon Network, is a playful chap with the talent to dream up and direct amusing bumpers and other bits of business for his employer. Not long ago, Ouweleen generated a concept called "Cartoons That Never Made It," a bunch of cheaply produced shorts featuring such failed "stars" as Rupert the Grouper (who does not survive his debut), Frothy Dawg, and the ill-fated lovers Salt N' Slug. The highlight of this bunch was a short called "Heidi and the Yodelers," a dizzy Nordic take-off on Josie and The Pussycats. This short was animated in faux-Hanna-Barbera house style and was almost certainly the progenitor of Ouweleen's next big project.

That project made its debut in June of this year on Cartoon Network when Ouweleen produced a series of eight cartoons called "Shorties." These two-minute gems, unpredictably sandwiched between regular programs, exemplify the possibilities of what revision and reinterpretation can do even for a concept that was minor to begin with. Space limitations prohibit analysis of all eight shorts, but a cursory examination of several will serve to highlight methods by which old cartoons can make a strong comeback. "Harasscat," animated at Curious Pictures and directed by Ouweleen himself, resurrects Pixie, Dixie, and Mr. Jinks. The original Hanna-Barbera cartoon was at best a pallid copy of Hanna and Barbera's own Tom and Jerry, but in this short Ouweleen and crew take considerable liberties to good effect. The mischievous mice now resemble roughly animated woodcuts, and Mr. Jinks is Paul Klee by way of Ralph Steadman. The eternal chase seems to be stalled after a court issues a restraining order against the cat, but Jinks solves his dilemma in a series of slow-motion, overlapping cuts involving a grandfather clock. Inventive, fast-paced, and funny, "Harasscat" is a fine example of how to update old toons for the new millennium.